Handle for vacuum cleaners and similar appliances



Mar. 3. 1925. I 1,528,493

I J. F. LAMB HANDLE FOR VACUUM CLEANERS AND SIMILAR APPLIANCES Filed May 27, 1924 ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH F. LAMB, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT. 'ASSIGNOR 1'0 LANDIJRS, FRARY & CLARK, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

HANDLE FOR VACUUM CLEANERS AND SIMILAR APPLIANCES;

Application filed May 27, 1924. Serial No. 716,286.

To all whom'e't may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH F. LAMB, a citizen of the United. States, residing at New Britain, county of Hartford, State of Coni necticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Handles for Vacuum Cleaners and Similar Appliances, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My ,invention' relates particularly to handles for electric vacuum cleaners, and similar appliances, of the type which the electrical conducting cord for connecting the; motor of the appliance with a lam socket 5 or other source of electrical. supp yleads outthrough an' opening in the upper partofv the handle. Heretofore, considerable 'difiiculty has been experienced with the cord breaking at the point where it leaves'the handle, which is-usually caused by the sharp bending movement of-the cord at this point as the appliance is moved back and, forth. Moreover, when the cord does breakat this point, it"isve'ry difiicult to renew or repair the same.

An object of the present is. to

vprovide means for reducing the liability ofthe cord breaking, the means being such that if a break occurs it will be at point where the broken ends can be easily spliced or otherwise joined. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a cord protecting device oftheycharacr ter indicated which is simplein construction I and easily.appliedto'vacuum cleanersnow 1n use. The following is a descriptionof an embodiment, of my invention,'referen ce' being had to the accompanying drawmgs, in

which,

Figure 1 is "a side elevation, partly broken j away, of a portion of a vacuum cleaner handle embodying my invention in its preferred form; t I

Fig. 2 isa front, view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on an en,- larged scale, taken on the hue 3-3 of Fig. 1' and Fig.4 is a detail side elevation partly in section of the portion of the handle illustrated in Fig. 3.

The handle illustratediinthe drawin s, which is of a typecommonly employed. on

vacuum cleaners, comprises a tubular rod 2 having a hand grip 4 on itsupper end. The electric motor o'fthe app iance 1s adapted to be connected with a amp socket or other source of electrical supply through the usual flexible conductor having insulated wires 6 and 8 that lead from the motor up through the handle rod, one of them being connected to switch contacts (not shown) located on the inside of the rod near its upper end, and leading from the switch and having their outer endsconnected with a lamp socket plug. The usual block upon which the switch members are mounted, ex-

tends out through anopening in the wall I of the handle rod and is secured by screws 10' to a supporting plate 12 that covers said opening and is secured by screws-14 to the outer side of the rod. The switch is adapted to be operated, to make and break the motor circuit, by means of a finger operated lever 16 that extends outwardly through a clearance slot in the cover plate 12, The wires 6 and 8 are suitably insulated and are twisted together, and the two are covered by a braided covering so as to form-a cord-18. This cord leads out from the switch through an eyeleted opening 20 in the cover plate 12, and adjacent to the plate 12 extends .through a tightly coiled spring'22, the inner 'end of whichextends a distance through the opening 20 and is suitably held therein.

The handle is also provided withtwo cord hooks 24 which are spaced one above the .othera considerable distance apart and the upper one is spaced :1 distance below the lower, end of the cover plate 12, the cord hooks being for the purpose of permitting the cord. to be wound thereon in the usual manner when the appliance is not in use. As usual,rthe cord hooks are made of sheet metal and are provided with lugs 26 which partially embrace the handle rod and are secured thereto. The upper1cord hook 24 is secured to the handle. by means of a bolt 0r pin 28 which extends through apertures in the lugs 26 and wall of the handle rod 2, and is provided with a collar or head 30 engaging one ofthe lugs, and a nut 32 screw-threaded" on its other end engaging the other lug so as to firmly clamp the lugs against the rod, the pin being extended from thehead 30 and bent to form a'hook' 34 from which the dust bag of the cleaner may be hung. The lower cord hook'is secured to the handle 'by'ineans of a rivet 35 extendthe result that it was slatted or swung back of slightly greater diameter than the width forward to cause the reduced portions of' its ends to be received in the reduced portions :of the two slots 46, after which the bolt 40 is inserted and tightened to firmly and forth as theappliance was moved back "hold the stud in place, as well as to cause and forth, and the consequent 'sljiarp bending of the conductors.adjacent said opening resulted in frequentfl'breaka'geithereof;

In the illustrated construction, however, by

means embodying my invention the cord is p held from bending-movement at vs'a-i d point where it leaves thehandle and the' cord otherwise protected. To provide for this,

7 in applyingthe,uppercord hook 24', the por--' tion of the cord adjacentthe plate 12 is first pulled downclose to the; handle rod and tension of the spring then the back of the hook is-laid against Y the cord and attached -t t11e rod',,as' above; described. The-back of the hook is f shaped to provide a longitudinal groove 3T, 1.tl1roi1gl1 which the cord passes, and thepgropve is of suitable size to cause its 'wallfvto'lhold the cord against the. handle rod, thus hold'the portionof the 'cordbetween the hook and eyelet opening 20fand the -coil spring 22 down near to the handle rod, the

22 keeping this por- I Jtion of the cord tight. I '5 r Also mounted on-the handle rod ;a short distance below the upper-cord hook124-is a bracket member or clamp 36. This bracket member comprises a sheet. metal strap having an "intermediate strap or band 'por tion" embracing the rod,-and having its-end portions directed forwardlyto provide for? ward'ly' rejecting lugs or arms 38: that are arrange substantially parallel and spaced! apart. The marginal portions ofthe arms 38 areextended and bent outwardly to providereinforcing ribs or shieldsg39; The

I bracket strap is caused toegripithel'handle the handle rod. The-arms38 are provided with-horizontal key-hole shaped slots, 46 thatf form continuationsv of, the clamping bolt apertures 42, andjha ve' their; reduced I end/portions directedtoward the outer ends of the arms...,The reduced portions of these I slots 46"receive theends of'a pin or stud" .60

48.1" Thisstudis-secured in position in the slots 46 bythe engagement of the arms 38 with shoulders 50 on the stud, the clamping bolt 40" causing the arins -to firmly clamp the shoulders between them. Thestud is the bracket strap to firmly grip the handle rodas-above described; It will be apparent that'upon looseningor removing the clamping bolt "40, the stud 48 may be removed Thecord 18exten'ds downwardly from beneath the uppercord hook 24 through the space betweenthe stud t8 and the clamping bolt 40, then outwardly and up over the stud 48, and then downwardly-again through the space between the stud and the clamping bolt, the cord being thus-looped about the stud. 111 thus looping the cord 18 about the stud 48, the clamping bolt and stud are removed; a loop is formed in the cord and this looped portion of the cord is positioned between the bracket arms 38 opposite the enlarged portions of the key-hole slots 46, and

t-henthe stud is inserted through the slots, andthro'ugh the loop and is brought forward into the reduced portions of the slots, the,

clamping bolt" 40 being then inserted and tightened. It will be apparent that the cord loopedabout the stud 48 may be thus apliedtoand removed from the bracket memer'wltho'utthreading it through any opening,- thus making disconnection of eitherof its ends unnecessary When the cord is in place and the bolt 40 is inserted it holds'thef pin48 in outward position. The pin 48. can, therefore, only be removed when the bolt 40 is entirely removed. v -It will be apparent that during the use of the appliance, the portion of the cord ex tending between the upper cord hook and the eyeleted opening 20 is heldfrom any bending movement, so that there is no danger-of thisrportlon breaking either at the opening 20 or'at any other point. .It will also be apparent that all the ull on the cord comes on the cylindrical stu 4 and there are. no square or shar corners to reak the cord. In case the cord may, upon removing the stud, be easily sphced and taped between the clamp and ould in time break, the break of coursewould occur adjacent the stud 48, and if this should happen,- the broken ends moved and replaced without removing the clamp from'the handle rod, enables. such repalrmg of the cord to beeasily done.

provided with heads 52 on its ends that are As will be evident to those skilled in the eashes art, my invention rmits of various modifications without eparting from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a handle of an electrically operated ap liance of the class described having an electrical conducting cord passing-longitudinally through said handle leading out throu h an aperture in the upper part of the han le for connecting the motor of the ap liance with a source of electrical supply, 0 a cord holding device mounted on the handle and s aoed a distance below said a rture for holding a portion of the cord a jacent to said aperture and between said source and aperture from bending movement while the appliance is in use.

2. The combination with a handle of an electrically operated ap liance of the class described having an e ectrical conductin cord passing longitudinally through said handle leading out through an aperture in the upper part of the handle for connecting the motor of the appliance with a'source of electrical supply, of means comprising a member mounted on the handle a distance below said aperture over which the cord is 85 cord passing longitudinally through sai handle and leading out throu h an aperture in the upper part of the han e for connecting the motor of the appliance with a source of electrical supply, of cord holding means comprising a support mounted on the handle in the upper part of the handle for connecting the motor of the appliance with a source of electrical supply, of cord holding means comprising a strap embracing said handle and havin its end portionsprojecting laterally there rom, a member over which the cord is looped adjacent to saidaperture and at a point between said aperture and said source having its ends detachably mounted in apertures in said end portions, and detachable means for causing said end portions to grip said member between them and said strap to grip said handle, said member being removable and having shoulders acting to space said ends.

JOSEPH F. LAMB. 

